War memorial restored in time for Remembrance Day

The 1922 memorial to World War One casualties has been restored in time for Remembrance Sunday

A 103-year-old war memorial has been painstakingly restored just in time for Remembrance Sunday.

The Grade 1 listed Spalding War Memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the architect behind the Cenotaph in London and dozens of other memorials.

The structure, in Ascoughfee Hall Gardens, had been affected by damp and a century's worth of wear and tear.

Councillor Elizabeth Sneath, from South Holland District Council, said it was "worth every penny" of the £205,000 cost to see it restored.

Councillor Elizabeth Sneath has been in charge of the restoration project

Sneath, the portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, conservation and heritage at the authority, said it "needed a lot of work" to restore the structure.

She said: "From a distance it looked OK, maybe a bit grubby, but the corners were collapsing.

"Over the years the pavements had been raised around it every time we've redone the surface. Water was pooling under the memorial and then coming up.

"We've had to get quite a lot of money together to do it, which is why we hadn't done it before.

"But that doesn't matter, it's worth every penny."

Dr David Carrington says it has been a "privilege" to lead the restoration project

The memorial was restored by Grantham firm Skillington Workshop and the work took five months to complete.

Director Dr David Carrington said it was "a huge privilege" to oversee the restoration.

"Not just because it's a Grade 1 listed memorial, but also because of what it is. It's commemorating people who've given their lives in service to their country," he said.

He added that the work was "pretty complicated", particularly recutting some of the lettering on the memorial.

He also said regilding crowns on top of sculpted flags was difficult because "matching historical materials always presents a challenge".

"Working on this sort of thing is such a huge privilege, and seeing so many people here today makes me very proud to be involved," he added.

The ornate memorial has sculptures of flags on either side of the memorial

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